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A review by jadzia
Literature Class, Berkeley 1980 by Julio Cortázar
5.0
"Literature Class" is a collection of Cortazar's lectures on different topics - all connected to literature of course, mostly his, but he does talk a lot about the general state of Latin American literary scene at the time, when he had given the lectures. It is a surprisinigly funny book - Cortazar was a man of great humour and while reading this lectures, I felt just like a student, listening to someone much smarter and experienced but at the same time winking at me, making sure I don't take everything so seriously. I really enjoyed the way it was published - transcribed - with questions and answers at the end, so I could actually imagine how the lectures could have looked like.
Cortazar talked quite a lot about his exile, living in Paris and experience of coming back to Latin America, and then the struggle of literature that needs to be entertaining but at the same time, if it can, should be involved in one way or another. I think it was a great complement to his fiction, since he often explained on the writing process, the way he got to create his best work and the situations, fact and stories he based on his novels.
Cortazar talked quite a lot about his exile, living in Paris and experience of coming back to Latin America, and then the struggle of literature that needs to be entertaining but at the same time, if it can, should be involved in one way or another. I think it was a great complement to his fiction, since he often explained on the writing process, the way he got to create his best work and the situations, fact and stories he based on his novels.